Railway-crossing.



S. B. MEEKER.

RAILWAY CROSSING.

APPLICATION FILED my. I], 1916.

Patented= May 30, 1916.

- Philadelphia,

UNITED STATES PATENT omo.

SAMUEL B. MEEKER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF 'lO CHARLES C. SCHWAMB, OF PHI LAIDELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

BAILWAY CROSSING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30, 1916.

Application filed January 17, 1916. Serial No. 72,524.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL B. MEEKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at inthe county of Philadelphia and fitate of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful vImprovements in Railway-Crossings, of which the following is a specification. 1 The invention relates to railways, particularly to the'crossings thereof, and has I for an object to provide acrossing for rail- 'ways, which will insure a safe and effective crossing of the Wheelsv of therailway ve-- hicle over the cross tracks -or rails; enable the wheels of the railway vehicle to maneuver the crossing with a minimum amount of jar, shock or noise, and greatly strengthen the intersecting rails and prevent cross stresses on the flanges of the wheels in the operation thereof over the crossing.

Among other features the invention comprehends a unitary structure, having its various parts relatively rigid and incapable of being severedfro-m the unit by the action of thewheels when passing over the cross mg.

Although I am aware that so called noiseless railway crossings have been designed and used heretofore the structural arrangement' thereof, does not insure a minimum amount of noise and jar when the wheels pass over the same, and they are furthermore ineffective in that there is developed a cross strain on the bearings of the wheels, due to the fact that inthe structures mentioned the flanges of the wheels operate in determined grooves formed'i'n the rails at their points of crossing, the grooves furthermore, in certain instances, being continued throughout the lengths of the rails, forming the crossing, so that the wheels passing over onepair of rails must necessarily pass transversely over the grooves in the cross set of rails, thus resulting in a shock, and,

jar that is not only wearing upon the wheels and their bearings, but alsoupon thesurfaces of the rails themselves. Further, with the form of structure mentioned the act of. the Wheels operating over the one set ofrails and striking the grooves in the cross set of rails results in a noise and clatter that is almost as intense as the noise occasioned when the wheels pass over the usual crossing now generally used. I n I With my construction, I provide an absoti'on reference is to head 15, as at the lutely plane surface at the points of intersection of the rails'and do not force the" flanges of the wheels to operate in grooves formed in the face of the rails at their point specification, in whichsimilar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the views, and in which:

Figure 1 ma plan view of the crossing,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the points of intersection of the rails of the crossing. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line 33 in Fig. 1, showing the position of the wheels at this point, Fig. 4 is a similar view taken on the line 4-4 in Fig. 1 showing the position of the wheel at this point, andFig. 5 is a similar view taken on the line 55. in Fig. 1

showing the position of the wheel adjacent the point of intersection of two of the rails of .the crossing. I

Referring more particularly to the views, the crossing in its entirety is designated by the numeral. 10 and includes intersecting rail'sections 11 and 12, each being similar in shape and design. The crossing 10 is preferably made in a solid piece to form a unitary structure and each rail section, at a point in advance of the crossing proper is formed to provide a base 13, web 14:, and point 3-3 in Fig. 1 where the section of Fig. 3 is taken. Here it will be seen, the'head 15 is formed with a groove 16 for the flange 17, of a wheel 18, and a surface 19 for the wheel, a side portion 21 forming a wall of the groove 16 and guiding the flange 17 therein. At about the/point- 4l, shown in Fig. 1', and in a wance of the point of intersection of one rail section with another, each rail section 1s formed w1th a side guard constituting a part of thisthe'base or periphery 20 of 5 that at a point in advance of intersecting rail sections the surface or face of the rail section is inclined downwardly as at. 227,

said inclined portion merging into a plane surface 23 at the lntersection of the rail sections, the plane surface continulng across the point of intersection of the opposing rail section. It will also be noted that with this 'construction any two intersecting rail sections have their inclined portions merging into a common portion of the plane surface and which as mentioned, extends from the intersection of two rail sections to the inter: section of two of the other rail sections. The groove 16, it will be seen, at the formation of the inclined portion also merges into the plane surface at the intersection of the rail sections and thus those portions 24 of the rail sections lying at and between intersec-ting rail sections are not formed with the groove 16 and are therefore, channel shaped in cross section, due to the continuations of the side portions 21 on the outside of these portions 24 and a similar continuone side portion 25 on the innerside thereof.

\Vith this construction in mind I will now set forth the manner in which the car wheel 18 approaches, passes over and leaves the crossing. Advancing over the usual rail the wheel rides onto one of the rail sections 11 or 12, with the periphery or base of the wheel operating over the face of the head of the rail section, the flange 17 of the wheel being disposed in the groove 16 but not in contact with the bottom thereof. Thus the weight of the wheel or other supported structure is carried on the base and rail surface and not by the flange. Now as the wheel proceeds the base thereof will com mence ,to move down the inclined portion 22 and at this point the flange of the wheel will commence to engage the bottom of the groove thus gradually shifting the weight of the wheel and supported structure from the base and rail surface onto the flange and the bottom of the groove. Therefore when the wheel reaches the intersection of the rail sections the groove merging into the surface 23 will permit of the wheel crossing the intersection without striking a' depression or rib and the passage of the wheel over the intersection of the rail sections will thus be accomplished without jar or shock and with a minimum amount of noise, the base of the wheel together with the flange, lying between the side portions 21, 25 as shown in Fig. 5, with the base of the wheel, however, not meeting the surface 23, which as seen, is still engaged by the flange of the wheel. After the wheel has advanced over the surface 23 and beyond the opposite intersecting rail section, the base of the wheel will engage the opposite incline and rise thereon, thus shifting the weight of the wheel and supported structure onto the surface of the rail section and base of the wheel, when the wheel reaches the top of the incline.

From the foregoing description, it will thus be clearlyseen that with a device of the character described the cross st] ess or straw to which the bearings of the wheels are usually subjected in the use of the ordinary crossing, and especially so in the known type of crossings, mentioned heretofore, is greatly minimized and almost entirely dispensed with, particularly in view of the fact that the wheels in passing over the intersecting rail and the medial portion between opposed intersecting rails operate over a plane surface, and not with the flanges of the wheels held in predetermined grooves.

Having described my*invention, I claim:

A railway crossing comprising intersecting rail sections, each rail section having -a longitudinal groove and a plane surface,

the rail sections merging into the plane surfaces at the points of, intersection of the rail sections, ofl'set guards on the rail sections at their points of intersection with one guard merging into the guardon the next adjacent rail section, and inclines forme on the faces of the heads of the rail sections immediately adjacent their points of inter section, said inclines being formed adjacent said grooves and having their lower extremities merging into the plane surfaces at the intersection of. the rail sections.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL B. MEEKER.

Gopiem oi thin patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patenyn,

' Waahington, 1D. 0. l 

